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"Black Panther" screen attendees during in event in Harlem on Friday, Feb. 16.

Black beauty queens and African kings came to slay at an event for the opening of Marvel's "Black Panther" at AMC Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem, on Friday night.

Tim Grae and his company Grae Enterprises LLC rented out one of the only minority-owned theaters in New York City to give members of the community a night to express themselves, with most of the attendees wearing African diaspora and cosplay attire.

All the screenings at the venue were showing "Black Panther," with hundreds of people gathered for the sold-out movie.

"This is the first time our culture was able to see themselves on screen in a regal format since the Roots series, which was in the 1970's," Grae said. "I'm from Harlem. So we wanted to support the community by bringing it to the community and it's a beautiful reflection of what we can be."

Friday's night's screenings filled many moviegoers at the event with a sense of pride in themselves and gave them a better understanding of what it means to be black, including Bronx native Thomas Bristow.